1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to local messaging devices enabling recorded messages by calling parties to be sent to a destination messaging system via a data network.
2. Description of the Related Art
The evolution of the public switched telephone network has resulted in a variety of voice applications and services that can be provided to individual subscribers and business subscribers. Such services include voice messaging systems that enable landline or telephony subscribers to record, playback, and forward voice mail messages. However, the ability to provide enhanced services to subscribers of the public switched telephone network is directly affected by the limitations of the public switched telephone network. In particular, the public switched telephone network operates according to a protocol that is specifically designed for the transport of voice signals; hence any modifications necessary to provide enhanced services can only be done by switch vendors that have sufficient know-how of the existing public switched telephone network infrastructure.
One particular problem related to voice messaging systems is the cost associated with a calling party leaving a voice message for a called party based on a no answer/busy condition at the called party premises. In particular, a calling party attempting to reach a called party will be connected to the called party's voice messaging system if the called party is not available, and begin a voice messaging session with the called party's voice messaging system which includes listening to a messaging prompt menu, recording a message, possibly reviewing/editing the message, and submitting the message for storage by the called party's voice messaging system. Such an arrangement uses a costly trunk line connection between the calling party and the called party's voice messaging system, resulting in increased costs for the messaging session, especially for use of long distance trunk line connections between interexchange carriers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,432, to Wallace et al. discloses a voice mail system having SS7 signaling capabilities to obtain routing information, for sending a recorded message to a destination mail system, via the SS7 network. The disclosed voice mail system includes an SS7 signaling interface for sending Transactions Capabilities Applications Part (TCAP) query messages and receiving TCAP response messages via the SS7 signaling network in order to obtain voice mail capabilities information and routing information accessed from a subscriber profile record corresponding to a called party, bypassing existing Advanced Intelligent Network components, such as a standalone service control point.
However, transfer of messages via the SS7 network imposes a burden on the SS7 signaling network, and may create congestion conditions for SS7 signaling nodes and SS7 links configured for transferring SS7 call setup messages (e.g., ISDN User Part (ISUP) messages).
Voice over IP technology has been deployed as an alternative to conventional PSTN-based telephony systems relying on frame relay. Use of the open standards-based Internet Protocol (IP) network eliminates the reliance on existing PSTN-based telephony systems for telephony services or voice messaging services. An example of an IP-based messaging service is disclosed in commonly-assigned, copending application Ser. No. 09/608,187, filed Jun. 30, 2000, entitled IP Web Based Messaging System for Localized Management of Wireless Messaging, the disclosure of which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference. The copending application Ser. No. 09/608,187 discloses an application server configured for providing messaging services to a calling party for a remote subscriber based on retrieval of subscriber attribute information obtained from a remote information database server (such as LDAP) via an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The application server also is configured for sending and retrieving messages from a standardized remote messaging server (such as IMAP) via the IP network based on a destination address specified in the subscriber attribute information. The access of the remote information database server and the standardized remote messaging server via the IP network enables the application server to provide portable application services for roaming subscribers or calling parties. Hence, application infrastructure can be shared among multiple servers to provide portable application servers, eliminating the necessity of routing telephone calls across interexchange carrier facilities or international facilities.